The Way of Light
by MrPointy2
Summary: Decisions made long ago threaten the galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

Navigation requires that we make assumptions about where we are, where were going and what we will encounter along the way. But there is another factor we must consider. What are we willing to sacrifice to finish the journey?

Methods of Politics

2nd edition

House Corrino Publishing

Sub-Commander Beth Itkin reviewed the data records over and over again but they made to sense. Leto II, the so called God Emperor of Dune, had been dead for nearly a week now. The empire he had build over the past three thousand years was rapidly falling into chaos. The Fish Speakers were stretched paper thin throughout the galaxy trying to keep order but barely keeping things together while they worked through their own grief. The Fish Speakers had loved that old worm. His murder by one of their own shredded their hearts. Sub-Commander Itkin was not Bene Gesserit. She did not hide her feelings of loss. She let her tears flow. Sub-Commander Itkin was in her mid thirties with a taunt athletic build. A casual observer would never know from her body that she had bore children for the Empire, for Leto, and for the Fish Speakers. She pushed her auburn hair back from her eyes as she read the data screen for the third time trying to make sense of what it was showing her.

"Vampires? Demons?" She thought to herself. Had the old emperor finally gone insane?

There were Fish Speakers who knew the truth, who served as trainers or watchers at the newly constructed training center but they all disappeared six hours after an unidentified ship had crashed the Arrakis planetary defenses and a lone intruder had fought her way past a division of Fish Speakers.

"A lone intruder!" Itkin thought wide eyed. "A lone intruder had fought her way past an entire division of Fish Speakers." That one thought burned in her brain.

"Leto, what the hell have you created?" she said under her breath to on one in particular. Itkin flipped the screen to the next page and read the part of the report that broke her heart. On the 32 inch high definition monitor she viewed the beautiful face of her youngest daughter Alisha Itkin. Beth had lost sisters on the battlefield before. She understood the price for doing holy work and accepted it as a privilege. But to have her daughter disappear without a trace, without an explanation or justification was unacceptable. Beth pushed the monitor away from her and wiped the tears from her face.

"Now you see what I mean?" A voice behind her said.

"Yes, Commander." Beth replied. Beth stood, turned and faced troop commander Felicia Gorman.

"Go Beth. Find your daughter. Find out what Leto was up to before he was killed." Commander Gorman's voice trembled. "Find out what's going on here. You'll have command of the Sietch Tabar and her crew."

"Thank you." Beth said softly.

Beth's commander gave her one last order. "Let me know as soon as you're able. What the hell are the Slayers and how we can defeat them?"

Reverend Mother Surayya Raisa opened her eyes and puked. She laughed to herself as she rolled to her side then stood up. She wiped the side of her mouth as she scanned the cityscape around her.

"It worked!" She thought to herself.

Surayya examined the body she was in. She was in the body of a tall young female, with pink skin, black hair and an average build. Surayya would start a regime of daily workouts and meditation to get the body in shape. So far everything was ok. She looked around the training center that was filled with young people around her own age.

"This is called a high school." Surayya thought. "This is Sunnydale High!"

Surayya watched the young people running freely about wasting their water in the mid-day sun. The freman within her recoiled.

"Ok, the hard part is done. Surayya thought. "I've traveled back over ten thousand years to Earth to locate the one Slayer and stop the prophecy. Looks like the Golden Path may prove useful sooner than Leto thought. "

A ball of paper hit her in the head. Surayya swirled, fists curled and body coiled to strike.

"_**Cordelia**_! Get the lead out!" Xander yelled from the open door of a classroom. History starts in five minutes.

"Ok, this shouldn't be to hard." Surayya thought. "If I can battle monsters from hell, how hard could high school be?


	2. Chapter 2

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"When looking for evidence to support your beliefs you must remember that nothing is what it appears to be."

Leto II

"The Pathology of Vision"

vol. 1

The Imperial cruiser "Sietch Tabar" entered orbit eight million kilometers from the Tailos pulsar. The ship was a stubby long range cruiser with minimum defenses but excellent acceleration. She was used mainly for reconnaissance. Beth watched the data screens from her command chair and once again she was doubting what her eyes were telling her.

"Science officer Edwards, are these readings correct?" Beth asked.

"Yes, ma'am." The science officer replied. "The Tailos pulsar is effectively dead. I 'm getting sensor readings telling me that the pulsar's gravity and magnetic fields are still there but the energy output is effectively zero. That star should be blasting out the energy of over seventy thousand suns.

"And you're telling me that's not the strange part?" Beth asked.

"No, commander." The science officer pressed a series of buttons that brought up a high resolution image of a small moon that shined impossibly bright. "This moon, Tailos Three, has all of the pulsar's energy. The light curves match exactly."

"So we have a star with no energy and a moon with too much energy, and the surplus of one is exactly the deficit of the other." Beth surmised as she reviewed the Slayer files from the monitor build into her arm rest. Beth was disturbed. She could see the discomfort on the faces of her bridge crew. The ability to tap into a pulsar would have tremendous military applications.

"There's nothing more to observe here." Beth concluded. "The ship that crashed the Arrakis planetary defense grid was last spotted in the Tleilaxu system where they attacked a group of high profile face-dancers. We can pick up their trail from there." Beth was about to order the jump to hyperspace when she happened to look upon science officer Edwards face which held a disturbing expression.

"Anything else Edwards?" Beth asked.

"That moon," Edwards responded, "how is it still here? It should have melted and turned to plasma microseconds after acquiring so much energy. That's an impossible moon!" science officer Edwards voice was near hysteria. "What could it be made of? What's holding it together? Why is that thing still there!?"

Beth recognized science officer's Edwards tone from her many years on the battlefield. Edwards was moments away from a full on panic attack. They all felt it from the moment they entered this system. There was something unnatural here something evil. It grated against their nerves like fingernails across a chalkboard.

"Helm, make the jump to Tleilaxu now!" Beth ordered.

The "Sietch Tabar" disappeared in a halo of light.

Two days ago aboard the "Memories of Dawn" Reverend Mother Surayya Raisa lay sleeping. The command berthing were by no means luxurious but it held room for a very comfortable bed, a nightstand, a video monitor and some room to walk around in. She had been back aboard ship for only a few hours when her tiredness came down on her like a ton of bricks which was unusual since slaying typically left her horny and high strung.

But this time things were different. The vampires of Tleilaxu were face dancers and most of them were public officials at that. An angry mob had chased them out of the capital city after the bulk of the slaying was done but not before they had lost one of their own all because she refused to attack Humans. The death of one of their own had torn her team apart. Surayya could barely hold them together as they made their way back to the ship. There was grumblings in the ranks. She would deal with it in the morning.

Her dream began with the vision of a wall of fire sweeping over the galaxy. It was everywhere. It turned planets into cinder and the stars into dust. The fire burned everything in its wake. Surayya could hear the dying screams of trillions of people being burned alive.

"No, please no" she murmured to herself.

"Seek the killer of Slayers." A voice from her past said. "He will know the way of light."

Surayya woke with a start and slammed her palm down on the intercom. "Bridge, staff meeting in five minutes."

"What's up captain?" The bridge officer asked. "I've been getting reports of weird dreams ship wide.

"The powers-that-be are yanking our chains." Surayya said as she began to get dressed.

"The killer of Slayers. That's a damn accurate name." Surayya thought. The door to her quarters opened and then closed behind her as she entered the hallway.

"Where in this galaxy can we find Spike?" She thought.


	3. Chapter 3

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"Often a leader is required to make a grand gesture. My grandfather, the Old Duke, knew this. He often provided the spectacle of himself in the ring as a bullfighter. This both created the illusion of accessibility and demonstrated his bravery to the masses. A good leader can achieve this even with the smallest gesture. It is thus that we bind the people to us even to their destruction."

Paul Maud'Dib

"Fedaykin graduation speech"

Surayya sat in the war room with her top officers. It was a small meeting. It was only her, her second in command Lisa Mandrake, Reverend Mother Motorria Swati and field commander Swanson. Together they dreamed, searching their genetic memories for clues of the 'Slayer of Slayers'. Lisa found the first clue.

Lisa dreamed of a young freman girl. She was all of fourteen short in statue with black hair and a brown desert tan. Her name was Lydia of sietch Kindle. She lived near the southern pole of Arrakis. Tonight she was hunting.

A month ago the nightmares started. She dreamed of viscous creatures that drank the blood of men and spilled their water in the desert. Her dreams terrified her. She had no one to talk to about the darkness that haunted her. Day by day the visions began to make sense. The world was full of monsters and she was the slayer of monsters.

Lydia jumped between the rock outcropping as she tracked her prey. It had killed two tribesmen and was now fleeing into the desert. At first she thought it had been a water thief from Jacurutu, the forbidden sietch, but every cell in her body screamed that it was something else. Lydia brought forward one of the exotic organics from Caladan, a "wooden" stake and leapt onto the monster below.

"That's all I remember." Linda said as she leaned backwards and exhaled. The dreaming had taken a lot out of her.

"I've got something." Commander Swanson said. She leaned forward. She ran her hand through her short brown curly hair. "There was an incident when Liet Kynes first came to Arrakis. His daughter, Chani, had a series of nightmares and would routinely disappear into the desert for days at a time. There were some off worlder deaths that were blamed on water thieves. Leit was about to have her removed from Arrakis when a visit from a reverend mother changed his mind. Of course, soon after House Atreides arrived and we all know what happened after that." Swanson said referring to the rise of the Kwisatz Haderach in the form of Paul Muad'dib.

"Before the arrival of Paul Atreides, Chani underwent rituals that unchosed her. She was no longer a Slayer." Swanson said.

For a moment everyone in the room went silent with shock.

"In Chani's journal she mentions the 'Slayer of Slayers." Swanson said understanding the implications,

"Great." Surayya said, "That means we have to go back to Arrakis. I'm sure Leto had those journals in his archive." They were all beginning to meditate on the logistics of getting past Fish Speaker defenses and returning to Dune when the proximity alarm rang.

A young female voice came over the intercom.

"Captain, it's the Sietch Tabar." She said. "They just appeared out of nowhere.

"Keep radio silence." Surayya said. "I'm coming to the bridge."

As they stood Swanson spoke.

"Perhaps, we should try something else this time. We wouldn't want you in a position to make a tough decision." Swanson said.

Surayya thought about what Swanson said. Swanson was the field commander during the assault on Tleilaxu. It was Swanson that wanted to fire on civilians. It was Swanson she overruled that resulted in the death of a team mate. Surayya came to a mentat prime computation. Swanson was challenging her for authority. Millions of years of genetic memory told her one thing. "Power begins at the grunt level."

Surayya moved faster than the eye could follow and slammed into Swanson throwing her body against the bulkhead. With three quick motions she broke Swanson's left arm in three places. Surayya took one step backwards and exhaled. Time slowed for her and returned to normal.

"Everyone to the bridge, now." Surayya said not taking her eyes off of Swanson. "Let's see what awaits us."


	4. Chapter 4

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"Compassion is a profound emotion provoked by the pain of others. It is an active desire to alleviate another's suffering. What happens to that desire when it must be sublimated for the well being of the majority?

Bene Gesserit

Koan Meditations

Buffy Anne Summers entered the magic shop and immediately noticed a young woman leaning over Dawn with a knife in her hand. Her blood pressure spiked and she saw red.

"I think you better get away from her!" Buffy said rushing towards the young woman.

Surayya felt Buffy's presence before she entered the store. Surayya knew a slayer was approaching. A part of her rejoiced at finally meeting the greatest slayer of all time as another part of her prepared for hand to hand combat. Surayya inhaled her breath deeply supercharging her consciousness. To her it felt like everything around her had slowed down. Surayya turned and blocked the blow from Buffy with her right hand. With her left hand, she stabbed two fingers into the base of Buffy's sternum. The entire motion was carried out casually. Buffy stepped backwards the wind knocked out of her. Surayya held up her hands in supplication.

"Please," Surayya said. "I mean no harm to you or your sister."

Buffy looked at Dawn as she struggled to catch her breath. Dawn was unharmed and looking at her with wide eyes. Behind Buffy, Giles and Willow entered the store. Buffy caught the concerned look on their faces and signaled them to not engage.

"I've traveled a very long way." Surayya said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I need to speak with Buffy and Mr. Giles alone please."

"What does this concern?" Giles asked as he made his way towards the young woman who appeared to be more teenager than woman.

"It concerns a prophecy about the end of the world and the death of the stars themselves." Surayya said pitifully, using every nuance of the voice she could muster.

Giles removed his glasses and began to polish the lenses. He was clearly moved by the young woman.

"I don't think she has anything to do with that dreadful Glory woman. Willow, please take Dawn into the back room." Giles said. Willow looked at him and Buffy with concern on her face.

"Everything will be alright." Buffy said to Willow. Buffy used a subtle set of hand gestures to signal to Willow to keep an eye on the young woman from the vantage point of theback room.

Surayya laughed inward. Buffy's use of hand signals was as subtle as a drunken Harkonnen in a whore house. She would have never graduated the training center on Arrakis. Surayya kept her face expressionless. After all, Buffy had saved the world countless times. She did deserve respect.

After Dawn and Willow had entered the back room, Buffy and Giles gathered around the strange young woman. Reverend Mother Surayya Raisa was a slim figured girl with raven black hair, coffee brown skin and dark green eyes and a strangely generic face that combined the features of every major ethnic group on Earth. Her movements and body language were minimum and precise. Giles recognized something else about the way the strange young woman held herself. She was a predator. He had often seen the same body language used by Buffy or Faith.

"So, what's the 411?" Buffy asked, positing herself within striking distance of Surayya.

Surayya recalled the idiom. It was slang for directory assistance. Buffy wanted information.

"I know about Dawn." Surayya said bluntly. "She is not your sister. She was created by monks from a ball of energy that existed before the world was made. Generically, she is closer to being your daughter than your sister. She was made from your blood."

Buffy's mouth was open in shock. She had just recently found out that information.

"Where did get you get this information? Giles asked, "Who told you?

Surayya waived the question aside.

"The creature Glory wants to bleed Dawn at the appropriate time, when the stars are right. She will fail. But at a terrible cost to you Buffy." Surayya said with sorrow in her voice.

Buffy leaned back on the table for support. What the young woman was saying had the terrible ring of truth about it.

"You mentioned a prophecy." Buffy said.

"Yes," Surayya said. "Glory will fail but the stars will remain. The prophecy states that the stars will be right again in ten thousand years. By then Dawn will have billions of descendents each of them carrying a bit of the green energy that Dawn was made from. Individually, not enough to lower the walls between worlds but collectively enough to set the galaxy on fire and burn everything to a crisp. There are thousands of trillions of lives at stake. I can't let that happen"

Giles was dumbstruck. It took him a minute to find his voice.

"So, what are you here to do? Giles asked.

"It's simple." Surayya said as she held the knife before her. " I'm here to make sure Dawn never has children."


	5. Chapter 5

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"understanding and communication serve different purposes. One is the attempt to master the universe the other is an attempt to submit to it.

"Patterns of Speech"

Bene Gesserit Training manual.

Aboard the "Memories of Dawn" Surayya Raisa leaned against the command console as the image of sub-commander Beth Itkin filled the sixty inch view screen. Surayya studied the commander's face in an attempt to read her. It was quite a shock when Surayya realized that the woman before her was the mother of Alisha Itkin. Alisha was killed during a reconnaissance mission on Tailos Three. She was torn apart by a monster. Her head was torn from her body. Alisha had volunteered for the mission. To Surayya, it felt as if she had sent her to her death.

"That is the way of war." Paul Maud'Dib said from her memory. "Good people die for no good reason."

"I know." Surayya said to herself. "It still hurts."

Surayya returned her eyes back to the screen. Commander Itkin was finishing up her spiel. Without the commander saying so, Surayya knew the real reason she was here. She was a mother. She was looking for her daughter. Surayya was a commander also. She had her priorities as well.

"Under the authority of the provisional Fish Speaker Government you are ordered to lay down your arms and prepare for boarding." Sub-commander Beth said.

Surayya tried not to laugh. She had no animosity against the Fish Speaker but clearly the woman had no idea what she was dealing with. Slayers did not take kindly to authority figures.

"Well, as they use to say back on Earth, we've got bigger fish to fry." Surayya responded.

Beth looked nonplussed on the huge screen. Her eyes expanded slightly as her brain tried to struggle with the concept of a universe that did not obey her every command instantly.

Surayya checked the command monitors behind her. Lisa had sent her an instant message reporting that Swanson was in the infirmary getting her arm looked after. The screen next to it displayed a multi spectrum view of the galaxy that included an overlay of visible light and gamma radiation. Things did not look good.

"Commander," Surayya said. "If you'll open a com channel we'll be happy to transmit files that will make my little incursion into Arrakis irrelevant."

"Incursion into Arrakis…" Beth thought. Then she realized. This was the one! This was the Slayer that had fought her way past a division of Fish Speakers just to stand on Imperial grounds and scoop up a hand full of sand.

"This…girl is a maniac!" Beth thought. That being the case, it would be best to humor her.

Beth allowed the files to be transmitted. She glanced at them and then forwarded them to Science officer Edwards.

"Ma'am," The science offer said after reviewing the files. "If these files are correct, then the galaxy is tearing itself apart." Science Officer Edwards said as she placed a picture-in-picture view of the pertinent files on the main screen. Edwards took her light pen and circled multiple spots on the image of the galaxy where there were bright blue spots.

"These regions indicate high levels of high energy gamma radiation. The kind of radiation you see when antimatter is released." Edwards said.

"That's not antimatter radiation." Lisa cut in.

Edwards and Lisa looked at each other as a mutual recognition passed between them. They were both nerds.

"Take a look at the subatomic particles being produced. Notice the high amount of phi-mesons." Lisa said as she scribbled on the same image with her light pen. "That's not antimatter, that's vacuum energy." She said.

Vacuum Energy is the underlying energy that exists even in empty space. A sharp enough warp of the space-time continuum could release horrific amounts of energy.

Edwards was awed as the full picture of what she was seeing came into focus.

"Captain," Edwards said to Beth, "the galaxy is being torn apart." She said again for emphasis.

"As near as we can figure," Lisa cut in, "something is weakening the dimensional integrity of space itself. It's like other universes are trying to push into our world. Something is tearing down the wall between worlds."

"This changes nothing. Prepare for immediate boarding." Beth said. "I'm sure Fish Speaker command will be able to deal with this.

Surayya rolled her eyes. She could feel every Slayer on the bridge unsheathe their unbreakable Lexan knifes in preparation for being boarded.

"Listen to your science officer." Surayya said. "We don't have time for games."

"Take a look at this," Lisa said as she uploaded a high definition video.

The new image played on the screen. It showed a crowd of people milling around a typical city. Suddenly, a tongue of blue white fire appeared in the sky. The fire began to spread and quickly consumed half the sky. People pointed upward to it and screamed. A huge golden dragon came out of the burning sky and spewed oily flames unto the people below. The crowds were in full panic. Suddenly, the field of view went bone white and the video ended.

"That was the Bentar colony on the outer rim." Lisa said. "Now it's gone."

"The colony?" Beth asked.

"No," Lisa responded sadly. "The planet. There were three hundred million people on that colony."

Lisa brought up the next image that showed a glowing reddish brown streamer of gas.

"The entire planet was reduced to superheated plasma in a fraction of a second." Lisa left the image on the screen. Her hand was shaking slightly with rage. She knew that whatever was behind this was supernatural in nature. The Slayer in her wanted to fight something.

It took Beth a moment to recover her voice.

"My orders are to bring you in for questioning." Beth finally said.

Surayya made a decision.

"I'm sorry for you loss commander." Surayya said to Beth. "Alisha was a fine crew member and was loved by everyone. I was the one that sent her to her death"

Beth closed her eyes in pain at the news.

"Helm, make the jump to the Bentar system, now!" Surayya ordered.

Beth opened her eyes.

The "Memories of Dawn" was gone.

Below decks in the medical center, field commander Swanson was having her bones reset. The captain had attacked her for insubordination. Swanson sat silently in the examination chair as the medic bandaged her.

"These Slayers are wild creatures. They smell like nothing we've encountered before. Their gene codes are totally unknown." She thought to herself. "The Masters will want to hear of this."

When the medic had turned her back, Swanson briefly changed her facial features to resemble Surayya, as a mocking act of defiance, and then she returned her face back to the assumed personage of field commander Swanson whom she had killed on Tleilaxu.

"They will know, soon all the barbarians will know the true power of the Tleilaxu Face Dancers!'


	6. Chapter 6

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

People often confuse the lesions of education and experience. Education teaches you how things should be. Experience teaches you what you have to do to win.

Leto II

The Physics of War.

Vol 2

Buffy was faster than she thought. Surayya's head was slammed against the table as soon as she made the statement about stopping Dawn from having children. Not only was Buffy fast but she was vicious. Buffy snapped two of Surayya's fingers without a second thought and then slammed her fist into her head at least six times before Surayya would move. Buffy lifted one hand behind her shoulder and caught the tire iron that Giles carried with him after he was tortured by Angelus. In one fluid motion, Buffy drove the sharp end of the tire iron through Surayya's shoulder. Surayya's scream meant nothing to Buffy. She flipped Surayya over and drove her elbow into her throat cutting off her airway. Buffy leaned forward with all of her Slayer strength. She could hear Surayya grasping for air.

"Nobody messes with my sister!" Buffy hissed as she waited for the woman to die. Buffy could feel the intruder's body start to go limp.

Surayya relaxed her muscles and drove her mind inward. She blocked out the pain and began to slow the blood loss from the wound. She remembered her Bene Gesserit prana-bindu training on Arrakis under the guidance of the great worm Leto II the so called God Emperor of Dune. She searched her body for the proper nerve endings. In less than a tenth of a second she found the correct nerve endings and activated the limbs she needed.

Giles saw something impossible. The young women, who a moment ago appeared near death, spread her legs wide and then brought them up and drove one under Buffy's throat. Surayya pushed Buffy away with impossibly strong abdominal muscles.

"A Human being can't move like that" Giles thought.

Willow entered the Magic Shop from the back room driven by the sound of struggle. She hurled a spell towards Surayya. Surayya dodged the first spell. The second one hit her square in the chest. The spell fizzled. It's only effect was a brief light show.

"She looks exactly like I remember." Surayya thought looking at Willow. Surayya grabbed a book from the bookshelf and hurled it at Willow's head hard enough to knock her backwards. Surayya shifted her weight and bought herself and Buffy to the standing position with one of Buffy's arms behind her back and her knife to Buffy's throat.

"Ok," Surayya said, "does anyone have any alternate suggestions on how we can save the galaxy?

Giles stood very still. His store was in disarray and there was blood on the floor of the Magic Shop. The stranger clearly was not an ordinary Human but she had come seeking Buffy's help before she was attacked. Giles recognized her extreme focus and singularity of purpose. Perhaps concentrating on saving the life of trillions of people would distract her and diffuse the situation.

"You mentioned a prophecy?" Giles said casually. He never took his eyes off of Buffy. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to explain it to us?"

Surayya understood that Giles was attempting to get things back on track. She released Buffy and pushed her away. Surayya reached up with her right hand and pulled the tire iron out of her left shoulder. She dropped it on the floor. Drops of her blood splattered on her shoes. Surayya hyper activated her immune system releasing white blood cells to the wound. She ignored the pain. Across the room Willow was moaning as she returned to consciousness.

"There is a prophecy of six stars as told to my people by the Slayer of Slayers." Surayya said. "It is said that these six stars can save the Galaxy from fire."

"The Slayers of Slayers?" Giles said quizzically.

Buffy moved over to Willow to check on her and help her to her feet.

"She means Spike." Buffy said from across the room.

Willow rubbed her head as she got to her feet.

"Is my head normal size?" Willow asked. "It's not swollen is it? She asked.

"No," Buffy said. "Your head is normal size." Buffy rubbed Willows head and resisted the temptation to kiss the wound and make it all better. Buffy was fiercely protective of her friends. Her immediate thoughts were how to kick this strange woman's ass.

"What would Spike know about saving the Galaxy?" Giles asked. "It's been my experience that Spike is not that bright." Giles continued. "Besides, I don't think he is the type to save the world."

"Well actually…" Buffy was about to recount Spike's actions in stopping Angelus from destroying the world. Of course, he only did it to save Dru.

"Wait a minute," Buffy said. "We never got your name during all of the ass kicking."

"I am Reverend Mother Surayya Raisa. Commander of Fish Speakers Special Forces Reserve Division." She said. "and I am a Slayer."

Buffy's jaw dropped.


	7. Chapter 7

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"Humans are remarkable creatures. They don't see until they accept. They don't accept until they understand. But when they see, they see it all.

Leto II

From the Stolen Journals

"You're kidding me, right?" Surayya said as she looked over the engineering reports. Being the captain of a ship full of Slayers was not always fun. Aside from hours of meditation and physical training there were endless staff meetings and stacks of reports that people actually expected her to read. "You're kidding me, right?" Surayya said again to the image that occupied a comer of the view screen. Most of the screen was occupied by the hyperlinked engineering report for the week. It had bar graphs and charts and page after page of techno babble. Surayya usually read only the executive statement.

"We're running out of gas?" Surayya said in disbelief. "Leto designed these ships to operate in deep space for years without refueling. How can we be running out of gas?"

The chief engineer took great pains to remove any trace of condescension from her voice. She'd heard about what happened Swanson.

"We burned a huge amount of fuel operating the Holtzman shields for extended periods during Tailos three; we've been jumping from one end of the galaxy to the other. Captain, with all due respect we need to refuel soon or we can just park the ship and walk to our painful fiery deaths." Chief Engineer Amorita said.

Surayya smiled. It was great that everyone onboard had the same Slayer dreams. It meant they were synchronized. It kept her from explaining herself a lot. Surayya noted that sometimes they were synchronized too much. It was nice to occasionally encounter some unexpected individualism.

"Well, Chief…" Surayya was about to say when the proximity alarm went off again for the second time in as many days. Surayya rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me it's that Fish woman again? She said to herself. Surayya taped her throat mike. "Captain to Bridge, is she back?"

"Yes ma'am." Came a voice from bridge.

"Alright, I'll be right up, Captain out" Surayya got up to make her way to the bridge when a thought occurred to her.

Maybe she could kill two birds with one stone.

The "Sietch Tabar" entered normal space ten kilometers outside the weapons range of the "Memories of Dawn." Sub-Commander Beth ordered weapons hot and shields up.

"That bitch is gonna to pay for getting my daughter killed." She thought.

The "Sietch Tabar" was no match against a dreadnaught class battlecruiser but Beth had a few tricks up her sleeve. She fired several missiles at the "Memories of Dawn" then made the jump into hyperspace long enough for her ship to appear instantaneously on the other side of "Dawn." Dreadnaught class battleships could not fire on both sides simultaneously. Beth then accelerated and fired several pulse laser charges across the "Dawn's" bow. She could see violent decompressions along the front of the huge ship. Instruments aboard the "Sietch Tabar" signaled that her missiles were within striking range.

"You can't be in two places at once." Beth though to herself.

The "Memories of Dawn" made the wrong choice. Her missile defense system kicked in and obliterated Beth's missiles.

"Gotcha!" Beth said with a low hiss. She knew their weapons system had a three second recharge time. "Fire control…" She said with blood in her eyes. "Kill them all!"

The bridge of the "Sietch Tabar" glowed with an other worldly light. It felt to Beth as if fire was passing within inches of her skin. She felt something grab her hard and yank. Beth coughed then opened her eyes. She was aboard the "Memories of Dawn" As the spots cleared from her eyes Beth could see a young girl of sixteen years with eyes as black as the grave and hair that swayed to a wind that no one else could feel. Reverend Mother Motorria Swati glowed with a green white energy that illuminated the entire bridge. Beth's skin ran cold. Motorria was a terrible sight. Under her breath Motorria chanted ancient Latin as tendrils of light coiled their way back into her body.

"She's not the one you should be afraid of." Surayya growled from behind Beth. Beth turned and saw the maniac that got her daughter killed.

"You!" Beth shouted as she reached for her sidearm.

Surayya was unimpressed.

"Commander, I suggest you focus on those thirty seven missiles your ship just fired at us. Unless we come to an understanding quickly we are all dead." Surayya said in measured tones. "Motorria has managed to speed up time here on the bridge using ancient magics but we have a lot to discuss. You are operating under a false assumption about who we are and why we exist." Surayya said as she slowly approached Beth.

"I don't care who you are!" Beth said speaking through her grief.

Surayya tried not to be sarcastic but she couldn't help it.

"I'll talk slow because you're stupid. " Surayya said in measured tones. "We are the last Holy thing created by Leto. He created the Golden Path to save Humanity and we are the guardians of that path. Because of our sacrifices, because of your daughters sacrifice Leto's Holy work continues through us. "

"Captain, damage control teams have suppressed fires on decks two, three and five." said the watch commander. "and ma'am, we've received three hails."

"Tell them to approach." Surayya said as she made her way to the main view screen.

In the dark, the "Xander Harris", the "Rupert Giles" and the "Anya Jenkins" approached. The three battle cruisers surrounded the "Sietch Tabar" with gun ports open.

"Beth," Surayya said with a slight twinge of the Voice. "We are going to make a deal. In exchange for logistical support and to get you people off our backs I am going to give you a full a debriefing on the origin, purpose and power of the Slayers. When I am finished, you will see that we are your best and only defense against forces you can't even imagine.

Six hours later it was done. Surayya had a deal with the Fish Speakers.


	8. Chapter 8

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"If you love something set it free. If it comes back, kill it. If it comes back again, well , you've got bigger problems."

-Xander Harris

Surayya stood with her face pressed against the main window of the observation deck with her palms pressed flat against the cold clear plaz. Her palms were cold and her breath created a condensate mist on the clear shatterproof plastic. Surayya watched Arrakis turn beneath her with tears of sheer joy.

"I'd never thought I'd see this place again." She thought. "It's good to be home."

Beneath her was a totally brown planet with millions of square kilometers of desert dunes. Not a single drop of water flowed on Arrakis.

The observation platform was a part of a huge space station named the "Leit-Kynes". It served as a port of entry for most visitors from off world. It was shaped like a huge pie plate five kilometers in radius covered with an unbreakable dome of clear plaz and a fully functional ecosystem. Scattered around the "Leit-Kynes" small groups of Slayers enjoyed the tropical setting and the low gravity. After days of extended negations, the Fish Speakers finally agreed to refuel and restock the Slayers and their ships only if they submitted to being photographed and entered into the central database like so many criminals. It wasn't so bad. The Fish Speakers got an exact headcount of the number of Leto's Slayers and not a few Slayers got a brief reunion with their families. No matter how badly Surayya wanted to get this process over with the Fish Speakers were not going to allow a swarm of several hundred Slayers on the station at once. So each ship took turns sending groups of three to the station to be booked into the system. The process still had a few days to go.

"I was thinking about the dreams." Motorria said. She stood next to Surayya watching Arrakis turn beneath her. "Remember the Freeman Slayer "Lydia" near the southern pole? Her memories speak of a monster that lived in one of the caves near her sitech."

Surayya meditated on the memory of Lydia of sitech Kindle. There had been Slayers on Dune all this time right under Leto's nose! The mentat within her began to stir.

"Why are the Slayers still around?" Surayya asked rhetorically. The last great Slayer war was thousands of years ago. All of the vampires were literally wiped out. After that, there was no need to be chosen. Why were there Slayers on Dune? Surayya thought to herself. The mentat within her knew the answer.

Because there were Vampires on Dune.

Surayya turned wide eyed to Motorria as she reached the same conclusion at the same time. Surayya tapped her throat mike she had keyed to an encrypted frequency.

"Lisa, meet me by the airlock near the observation desk." Surayya said. "We're going hunting".

Surayya looked at her best friend and smiled.

They stood on a dune beneath a burning desert sun. Hot dry winds blew on them. The three slayers had only their stillsuit to protect them. They all relied on their fremen memories to guide them in the proper wearing of the stillsuits and to guide them to the middle of the dry dune sea. The Fish Speakers who had them aboard the "Leit-Kynes" objected strongly to the slayers going down to the planet. But in the end Surayya reminded them that the death of trillions was at hand and that Leto's golden path would be utterly destroyed. The Fish Speakers agreed on permitting them a short reconnaissance mission under their watchful supervision. Motorria smiled as she waved wildly at the observation satellites overhead she knew to be watching her.

"Where to now Lisa?" Surayya asked

"There." Lisa said as she pointed to a cliff wall a few thirty yards away. Lisa had the clearest memories of the Slayer Lydia and her sitech. Linda began leading them.

"So let me get this straight." Motorria said to Surayya." There are two types of Slayers. The Slayers that Leto created to fight the Old Ones, us, and then there are the natural Slayers created by the Dark Men thousands of years ago on Earth. The natural Slayers are chosen by some supernatural force every generation, except for that one time Willow chose them all at one time. "

"Correct so far." Surayya said.

"Thousands of years ago, even before space flight, there was an apocalyptic war between Slayers and Vampires. The Slayers won. All of the vampires everywhere were destroyed, that is, according to the Watchers Journals." Motorria recounted.

"Correct again" Surayya said.

By this time they were nearing the first rock outcropping.

"So the question is, why are there natural Slayers on Arrakis?" Motorria asked.

"That's why we're here." Surayya answered.

Lisa raised her left hand and bawled it into a fist. The trio stopped dead in their tracks.

"We're being watched." Lisa said.

Everyone scanned the rock face looking for whoever was watching them. It was Lisa who first noticed they had walked into the opening between two rock faces.

"This is the perfect place for an ambush." Surayya thought.

He came out of the cliff face directly in front of them appearing out of nowhere. He was over six foot two, rail thin with razor sharp facial features and punk blonde hair.

"It's about time you wankers got here!" He said with a slight cockney accent. "I've been hiding in this hellhole for over a thousand years!"

Motorria felt her pulse quicken in a involuntary sexual response as her body recognized something ancient and powerful before her. It took a tenth of a second for her mind to catch up.

"It's Spike!" she thought.

From the cliff face and behind them fremen slayers appeared out of nowhere. Each one of them had a large caliber weapon pointing at Surayya and her crew.

Surayya, Lisa and Motorria held their hands up in surrender.

"Spike, we need to talk to you about the end of days." Surayya said in a loud a voice as she could muster.

"I know luv, the stars themselves are burning." Spike said as he made his way towards them. "But I think I have an answer for that." Spike motioned to the slayers who held weapons on them. "Take them to the keep. We'll deal with them there." He said.

Something occurred to Surayya. Spike was outdoors in broad daylight.

"Hey, why aren't you on fire?" Surayya asked.

"Before this is over," Spike said in a grim voice, "that will be the least of your questions." He said as he disappeared in a flash of light.

Surayya, Lisa and Motorria were herded towards a cave opening.


	9. Chapter 9

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"We like to talk big. Vampires do. 'I'm going to destroy the world.' That's just tough guy talk. Strutting around with your friends over a pint of blood. The truth is, I like this world. You've got... dog racing, Manchester United. And you've got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It's all right here."

-- Spike

"The Key is energy."

-nameless monk.

They were ushered into a huge cave hundreds of meters across. Glow globes of all sizes littered the cave interior. They lit up the landscape like a constellation of stars. Spike appeared again and led them into a small room off the main part of the cave. Surayya could see groups of fremen slayers and their families going about the routine of life. Some were cooking dinner some were cleaning and storing weapons. One slayer was wet nursing her baby. The slayers that had escorted Surayya and her officers had disappeared behind them. Spike motioned for them to sit.

"Right, so here we are. We're going to save the world, again." Spike said more to himself as he sat across from Leto's slayers.

A high definition image of the galaxy appeared out of nowhere. It showed the familiar twin spiral arms of the Milky Way peppered with red, white and yellow stars. Surayya could even see the details of the black hole at the galaxy center. Spike's map was really good. Surayya looked around for projectors but could find none.

"So, as we all know the stars are burning." Spike said. "Vacuum energy or zero point energy is being released is dangerous amounts."

Surayya remembered her freshman physics. Vacuum energy was the energy that occupied every point in space even empty space. In ancient times it was simply called dark energy. It was the force pushing the galaxies apart. It was responsible for the hyper expansion of space after the big bang.

"There is a new force causing fractures in the structure of space-time. These fractures act as micro singularities causing a break in the symmetry that cancels out the infinite energy potential of…"

Motorria raised her hand as if she was back at Leto's training center.

"Yes?" Spike said as he rolled his eyes.

"Will we be tested on this?" She asked.

"Long story short. Temperatures several billion times hotter than the sun will available in a neighborhood near you. "Spike said succinctly.

"What's this new force you spoke of?" Surayya asked getting back to business.

"Magic." Spike said with a flat tone. "Stinking stupid magic. There are always consequences to using magic. They never listen to me." Spike took a long look at Motorria. "By the way, nice work on Tailos Three" He said to her.

"How did you…" she said.

"Luv, you use that much magic, somebody's going to notice." Spike stared at her a long moment then turned his attention back to the group.

"Magic, stupid, stinking magic. Before the Dawn of time, there was a town named Sunnydale. It was build over a Hellmouth" Spike said.

As Spike spoke Motorria began to search her memories. She had the clearest memories of Sunnydale. She was the one who located Willow Rosenberg. As Spike spoke other memories floated to the surface. Other memories that included Buffy and her sister.

"Dawn was the Key!" Motorria blurted out.

"Give that lady a prize." Spike said with a smile.

Motorria spoke to the other slayers excitedly.

"Buffy's sister was a mystic clone. Monks took pan dimensional energy and molded it into a three dimensional vessel which was her sister Dawn! She said.

Both Surayya and Lisa confirmed this in their memories.

"At a precise moment in time, when the stars were right, the insane Hell God Glory was going to use Dawn to open the dimensional portals and tear down the wall between all worlds. Fortunately, I stopped her." Spike said with pride.

All three of Leto's slayers looked at him like he was insane.

"Alright, Buffy helped a little." He said.

"She died." Motorria said sadly.

"Yeah, but she got better." Spike added.

All three of the slayers stared at him in dead silence.

"Anyway." He continued. "The damned monks never came back to check on their creation. Of course now that I think about it they were probably all killed by Glory. But still you think someone from the monastery would have come to check on their creation. "

"But they didn't?" Motorria asked.

"No, they didn't! So what happens next? She lives a normal life! She falls in love, get married, has children, those children have children, and then those children have children and so on and so on. So here we are twelve thousand years later give or take a millennium and the energy that was once contained in a single body is now spread across the galaxy creating billions of micro fractures in the structure of space time." Spike said with real distress in his voice.

One of the fremen slayers ran into the room her eyes wide.

"My Lord, please" she said.

Spike began to glow.

"They just forgot about her! They made her and forgot all about her! Tears began to form in the comer of his eyes.

The Slayers were disturbed.

"He gives water to the dead!" They thought. By this time everyone in the cave was gathered at the entrance to the room urging Spike to calm down."

"She was so tiny! Spike said with increasing agitation. "When she died my arms, she was well over a hundred years old. She was such a tiny thing, all bones and skin as light as a feather. 'Lil bit' "Spike called her by her pet name as river of light poured out of him.

In a flash the entire cave was consumed in a gentle light that radiated from Spike.

"There are always consequences to using magic." He said as the light enveloped them all.


	10. Chapter 10

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"Huh?"

Xander Harris

She stood with him in a cavern under the town of Sunnydale. The amulet he wore began to glow, a bright light poured out of it into the region below. Beneath Spike, hundreds of Turok-Han rushed forward and were burned into dust. The cave began to shake and collapse. Around Surayya, slayers were engaged in vicious hand to hand combat with the Turok-Han. The Turok-Han slashed at the slayers with their sharp claws. The monsters sunk their teeth into one of the slayers as she screamed. Without a second thought Surayya prepared to leap into the fray.

"I wouldn't do that luv." She heard a voice say in her head. "Wouldn't want to disrupt the time stream."

It was Spike. He was before her, enveloped in fire, and he was in her head as well. Surayya turned to her right and caught a glimpse of Buffy Summers. Buffy spoke to the First who recoiled with fear on its face then she turned and ran towards Spike.

"Time to go Luv." The voice in Surayya's head said. And with that she disappeared.

Surayya rode in Victorian carriage with the bloody bodies of a bride and bridegroom. Across from her sat Angelus in full vamp face. Next to her sat a soul less Spike who still had blood on his hands.

The scene flashed again.

She was in China during the boxer rebellion. The city was in flames. Surayya was in a room. She watched Spike drink the blood of a Chinese slayer.

"Where is her backup?" Surayya thought. Then she remembered. Back then, there was only one slayer in the world. There was only one girl in the world with the speed and the strength to hunt the vampire. After she died the next would be chosen.

The scene flashed again.

Surayya stood on a dune at night. The sky was black as ink and the stars shone diamond hard. In the distance Surayya could see a huge sandworm empty it's cargo of fremen. They fell upon a lone figure hidden in the sand.

"We need him alive!" Surayya could hear the faint voice of Lady Jessica Atreides as she guided her fremen to the stranger. They surrounded him and attacked. In one smooth motion the stranger brought his crysknife up and fell three of the fremen. The stranger turned impossibly fast and snapped the neck of two the fremen before a young girl kicked brought him down with a swift kick to the back of his left leg.

"Slayer!" The stranger yelled. "It took you long enough to show up!"

"Confirm the identity Chani, Paul must know!" Lady Jessica yelled to the young girl.

Chani ripped the stillsuit mask from the face of the stranger. Surayya recognized Spike's blond hair.

The scene flashed again.

Surayya watched Buffy Summers writhe on top of Spike in a motion that was as old as life itself. Buffy nipples were erect and her eyes were closed. Her body was rigid as she clamped down on Spike with all of her slayer strength.

"What is this?!" Surayya asked the voice in her head. "Why am I being shown these memories?"

"Not memories." Spike responded. "Reality. These are the actual events. Not a recreation."

"How?" Surayya asked.

"It is the way of light." Spike responded. "The amulet I wore under Sunnydale against the Turok-Han. That amulet will always have a bit of my essence trapped within it. That day, the amulet connected me to Earths sun. That connection allowed the light of the sun to pour through of me.

Surayya was stunned. She had her slayer memories but they never revealed this.

"There are always consequences to using magic." Spike said with sadness in his voice. The connection is permanent. I will always be connected to everything I have ever touched. Quantum entanglement expanded by magic. The effect is growing stronger over time."

Surayya watched as Buffy climaxed and passed out over Spike.

"Can She see me?" Surayya asked.

"Yes, understand, this is not a memory or an image." Spike said to her. "You are physically here. You could walk over and tap her on the shoulder. That is, if you can wake her up."

Surayya looked over at Spike still dressed in his stillsuit.

"So what now?" Surayya asked.

"Now, I send you to the source of the problem. I think I can locate the descendant of someone I killed and place you inside of her body. It's taken me a few years of temporal manipulation to make sure she has all of the tools you need to succeed." Spike said.

Spike looked at Surayya for a long moment.

"Prevent Dawn's descendents from killing us all." He said. "By any means necessary."

Surayya reviewed what spike had said as a mentat computation. One conclusion nagged at her.

"Spike, are you a god?" she asked.

Spike smiled. "No." He said. "However, that doesn't keep people from worshiping me.

"Alright, here we go." He said. "Mind it now. The process may cause you to throw up.

Surayya disappeared in a flash of light.


	11. Chapter 12

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"Anchovy, anchovy you're so delicious! I love you more than all the other fishes!"

-Dawn Summers

"Conversations with dead people"

S07E07

Surayya enjoyed the taste of cookie dough. After patrol they returned to Giles apartment for a late night conference. Dawn and Xander and Willow were there as well. This was a full on Scooby meeting.

Buffy appeared out of the kitchen with something call Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough. Surayya nibbled on it cautiously then attacked it like a hungry wolf.

"They don't have cookie dough in the future?" Buffy asked as she sat next to Surayya.

Surayya thought about the food at the Arrakis training center and aboard the "Memories of Dawn".

It was ok. It wasn't cookie dough.

"No. We use reconstituted protean packs." Surayya answered. "Each unit comes with a build in chemical heating element. It is a very efficient system"

"Did anybody else here get an image of bums heating up a can of pork and beans around a camp fire?" Xander said.

Surayya smiled. This felt like the times she and her classmates would huddle together for late night gab sessions at the Arrakis training center. She felt connected to the scoobies.

This was exactly what she didn't need. She needed to stay focused and on mission. She needed to solve the prophecy of six stars.

Surayya excused herself and walked outside. The air was chilly and the sky was clear. The stars shone diamond hard against the night. Surayya adjusted her body's temperature to compensate.

Surayya looked around the backyard. The wind was blowing lightly and everything was quiet.

Spike stepped out of the darkness. "Hello, luv." He said still wearing his stillsuit covered with dust from Arrakis.

Surayya clamped down on her reflexes as a burst of adrenaline flowed through her blood. Surayya recalled an idea that occurred to her when she saw the map of the galaxy in Spikes sietch. She reached out and passed her hand through the form of Spike.

"That's why we could see you in broad daylight." She said. "You're a master at broadcasting images, illusions."

"Bingo." Spike said. "One of the advantages of being connected to light by the amulet."

Something occurred to Surayya.

"Are you the First?" she asked.

An odd look came across Spikes face. He chose his words quite carefully.

"I swear to you that the person talking to you now is not the First." He said in an odd tone.

Surayya didn't know what to think of that comment. She decided to table it for later.

"Have I ever seen your true form?" Surayya asked.

"No." Spike answered. "But that's irrelevant."

The image of Spike drew a detailed map of the Sunnydale countryside in the middle of the air.

"There. "Spike said as he pointed to a spot a few kilometers away from the summer's home.

"In seven hours the ancient one will perform the ritual of illumination. The world will be cast into eternal darkness. Capture the Drogran scepter. We can save the galaxy with that." Spike disappeared in a flash of light. The glowing map faded after a few minutes.

Buffy came out of the house and joined Surayya on the back porch.

"Thinking deep thoughts?" Buffy asked.

"I think I know where to find the ancient one." Surayya said. "There is a quarry a few kilometers from here. We have only a few hours."

"Good." Buffy said. "We can beat the bad guy, save the world and be back before dawn. Any thought on what you're going to do after you save the world?

"Yes." Surayya said as she turned to enter the house. "I'm going back to Arrakis and kill Spike." She thought.


	12. Chapter 13

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"God created Arrakis to train the faithful."

--Fremen quote

Surayya stepped through the circle of light into Spike's cave. She was bloodied, with scratches over her left shoulder and a nasty cut along the length of her arm. In her hand, she held the Drogran scepter. She and Buffy Summers had stopped the ritual of darkness with only seconds to spare. Together, they had fought the league of darkness and ended the ancient one. The battle had not been without its price. Giles had to rush Buffy to the hospital. She knew from her memories that Buffy would heal in time to meet Glory and her second death. Motorria and Lisa stood before her wide eyed. Freman Slayers were still at the mouth of the entrance of the room.

"What the…" Lisa said approaching Surayya. "What happened to you?"

"How long?" Surayya asked. "How long have I been gone?"

Lisa and Motorria looked at each other for a moment. Surayya's question was strange.

"Less than a second." Lisa said. "After the light from Spike faded, we noticed you were missing."

"I was in the process of doing a locator spell." Motorria cut in. "Now here you are."

"What's that?" Lisa said as she pointed to the Drogran scepter.

"The end of lies." Surayya said as she held the Drogran scepter in front of her.

The Drogran scepter was a slim rod half a meter long which seemed to be made of wood inlaid with gold stripes. Surayya knew better. The Drogran scepter was far more than that. By its magic's it could capture light. The Drogran scepter was capable of generating a stable stream of quantum black holes. It could generate black holes with a singularity as a sphere instead of a point. Anything placed inside the spherical singularity was trapped forever.

"Fix me." Surayya ordered with kindness.

Motorria's eyes went black for a moment as all of Surayya's scars disappeared.

"We're going hunting." Surayya said.

Lisa and Motorria looked a Surayya. It took only a moment for their Bene Gesserit training to interpret her body language. Surayya was furious. Someone was going to die soon.

"Hello, pet." Spike said as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Show me your true self." Surayya said in a sharp tone.

Lisa and Motorria instinctively reached for their lexan knifes.

"Have you figured it out?" The image of Spike said.

"Yes." Surayya said flatly. "Show me your true face."

The image of Spike pointed towards a two meter hole in the cave wall.

"Follow that." He said. "and hurry. I don't know how long I can control myself."

Motorria was the last one out of the hole. She bumped into Lisa and Surayya as she climbed out of the chute. Before them was a huge cavern with a crater in the center that was at least two kilometers across. The crater glowed with a yellowish white supernatural light. The entire cavern was filled with its dead light glow.

"How far does it go down?" Surayya asked.

"All the way to the core of Arrakis" Spike answered from the center of the light.

"Spike is in the light?" Lisa asked.

"Spike is the light." Surayya answered. "This is all that's left of him. The flesh wasted away thousands of years ago. People assume vampires are immortal because people have such short life spans."

"That damn amulet." Spike said with sadness. "I'm still connected to it. My essence is still inside of it."

The vortex of light darkened for a moment as storm shapes swirled within it. Motorria held her hand out towards the light. No warmth radiated from it. Spike's light was as cold as the grave.

"Was the murder of the Bentar colony necessary?" Surayya asked, her eyes were red rimmed with tears.

"I had to make sure you hated me enough to get the job done." Spike said. "You slayers are so sentimental.

Lisa looked at Surayya.

"The video file of the incineration of the Bentar colony." Surayya said. "I memorized it. It wasn't until Spike appeared to me in Sunnydale that I understood his mastery over light. I did a mentat analysis of the light curves embedded in the video file. There was a small vacuum energy emission near the colony but not near enough to destroy the planet."

Surayya began to activate the Drogran scepter. Green white pulses of light shot from it. Motorria's eyes began to darken without her knowing it. Lisa looked shocked and heartbroken.

"Spike murdered over three hundred million people just to make sure we would have no mercy on him." Surayya said with hatred in her voice. "Tell me monster, are you ready to die?"

"Yes." Spike said as the micro sun increased it brightness.

Surayya arched her arm back as a prelude to tossing the Drogran scepter. That's when all of the lights went out and the cave was cast into pitch blackness. A red light, like blood, like hell, like flesh torn open appeared in the center of the crater. It was huge.

"However, I am not" a deep bass voice said that carried with it all of the horrors of the night.

All three slayers knew that this was the vampire that had lived inside of Spike for over ten thousand years. This was the immortal evil that had butchered millions. Their knifes were out in an instant. They could hear the slithering of monsters all around them. They formed a triangle with their backs as they prepared to face the oncoming horrors.


	13. Chapter 14

All characters from the Dune Universe are property of the Frank Herbert Estate. All characters from the Buffyverse are Property of Joss Whedon. Everything else belongs to me.

"You've heard of animals chewing off a leg to escape a trap? There's an animal kind of trick. A human would remain in the trap, endure the pain, feigning death that he might kill the trapper and remove a threat to his kind."

Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, testing Paul Atreides with the Gom Jabbar.

Motorria lit a green flair with magic which gave them just enough room to see the swarm of shapes that rushed at them out of the darkness. Lisa got the first one with a slash of her knife. Surayya broke a creature's leg with a blow to its femur and then struck its face with the palm of her hand driving bone fragments into its brain killing it instantly. Two more monsters appeared. Surayya pinned one to the cave wall with her left foot then snapped the other creature's neck. They were on their seventh kill when realized the monsters were coming too fast.

"Moto, do something!" Surayya shouted above the bird like screams of the on rushing monsters.

The blood red darkness of the cave was lit with waning yellow light. Surayya could see Motorria face. It was a sad and terrible sight. Blood was pouring from her eyes, nose and mouth. An invisible weight pressed against her and held her against the cave wall. She looked as if she was dying.

"You use that much magic, somebody somewhere is going to notice." Surayya could hear Spikes words in her head.

Surayya swiped her knife across the throat of the creature that rushed her. Green blood splashed on her.

Around the black red shape that dimly lit the crater in the center of the cave a yellow white swirl of light appeared. The monsters froze and retreated to cover.

"Whatever you're going to do. Do I now." Surayya could hear Spike say as the two cones of light began to fight. Sounds, like the tearing metal, filled the huge cavern. Surayya activated the Drogran scepter and threw it into the light storm.

Its effect was immediate. A volcano of light exploded from the crater. Surayya shielded her eyes. Lisa turned her body to protect Motorria. Wave after wave of light, passing from red to orange to green to deep blue, flowed out of the crater. The bowels of Arrakis emptied itself. Towards the end Surayya couldn't tell exactly what she was seeing but she remembered years later a demonic form with black burning wings and horns crumbling like old paper and blowing away into dust.

"Moto, are you ok?" Surayya asked as she turned to her old friend.

Color had returned to Motorria's face. Blood had stopped flowing. Motorria managed a weak smile.

"What's that?" Motorria asked pointing towards the crater.

A small point of light slowly floated upwards and stopped half way to the top of the cave.

"His soul." Surayya said in awe.

Above the small point of light a portal opened. Surayya caught a glimpse of what was on the other side of the portal. It was heavenly.

"Rest in peace William" Surayya said. "After all this time you can finally rest in peace."

They gathered Motorria and headed back towards the surface.

The Fish Speakers would not leave them alone. After returning to the "Leit-Kynes" Surayya took Motorria to the nearest medical center. Fish Speakers had swarmed all over them the instant they got off of the shuttle from Arrakis.

"What happened down there?" They demanded to know. A huge fountain of light had sprung from Arrakis and then scattered throughout the galaxy at billions of times the speed of light. Surayya told them to check the vacuum energy readings that threatened them all. The Fish Speakers were shocked.

The production of vacuum energy had returned to normal levels. The galaxy was safe again.

Slayers from various ships turned the space station upside down to find their commander. When a group of slayers found Surayya and company in one of the medical centers they offered to take turns watching over Motorria and standing security. Quite a few of them were looking for something to smash.

"We did it." Surayya said over the station intercom. "The galaxy is saved. The slayer of slayers is no more."

Only Surayya knew what that really meant. The slayers dispersed back to their ships.

A few hours later, after a shower and a hot meal, Surayya went to check on Motorria.

She pulled her chair next to Motorria's bedside. Motorria's vitals were strong. She would be up and about in no time.

Motorria was Bene Gesserit. She access to the same genetic memories as Surayya and even more. They both reminisced over Spike.

"He loved her, you know." Motorria said speaking of Spike's love for Buffy. "That was the reason he went and got his soul back.

"You mean that was the reason the daemon inside went and got his soul back." Surayya replied.

This was one of the great debates in the Slayer universe. What was the real meaning of Spike having a soul? After all, it was the daemon that returned his soul.

"He was in love." Motorria said.

Surayya rolled her eyes.

"He just did it to get into Buffy's pants." She said. "If Spike felt gold would win over Buffy, he would have robbed Fort Knox instead." She said referring to the old Earth depository.

"I wonder if the scoobies understood what it means to have two sprits inside of you at the same time." Motorria asked. "His living sprit was trapped in a dead body for over ten thousand years. It must have been Hell.

Motorria continued her lecture talking more to herself that Surayya. "When a disembodied sprit possesses a dead body it is called a vampire. When the essence of a demon is poured into the body of a living person she becomes a slayer. That's why slayers have to be female. That's why slayers can only be female. We are build to house multiple souls at one time."

Surayya nodded. "It's because we can get pregnant, right?" She asked.

"Exactly." Motorria said. "The unborn fetus has a soul and the mother has a soul. Women are naturally build to house multiple souls at one time. That's why slayers can only be female. We carry both the essence of a demon and our own soul."

Surayya looked at Motorria quizzically. "So you saying that Spike became Female because of love?"

Motorria shrugged. "Well, at least he didn't end up like Angel." She said referring to the other vampire with a soul.

They both laughed at a secret joke and hugged each other.

Surayya held her friend until she fell fast asleep.

-fin-

I want to give a shout out to all of my veterans out there. Happy Memorial day!

The great Spike Soul debate still rages on the internet. Check out:

.buffy-v-slayer

.

Heck, just google "Spike Soul". I got 172,000 hits.

Next up: Part Three

(There might be sandworms!)


End file.
